Table 2 Comparison of dentists’ and patients’ characteristics between the three identified clusters–Bivariate analyses (n = 3,014 dentists)
Characteristics in 2019 | Cluster 1 “Better than average practices” N = 686 dentists (22.8%) | Cluster 2 “Average practices” N = 1241 dentists (41.2%) | Cluster 3 “Worse than average practices” N = 1087 dentists (36.1%) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dentists’ characteristics | |||||
Geographic area % | Alsace | 33.1 | 39.4 | 44.0 | < 0.0001 |
Champagne-Ardenne | 14.7 | 18.4 | 24.4 | ||
Lorraine | 52.2 | 42.2 | 31.7 | ||
Dentist’s gender % | Male | 57.8 | 59.3 | 53.6 | 0.019 |
Female | 42.2 | 40.8 | 46.5 | ||
Practice setting % | Rural (< 5,000 inhabitants) | 35.1 | 35.2 | 33.7 | 0.265 |
Suburban (5,000–20,000 inhabitants) | 31.5 | 31.1 | 28.7 | ||
Urban (> 20,000 inhabitants) | 33.4 | 33.7 | 37.6 | ||
Type of procedure a % | Prosthetic | 3.2 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 0.028 |
Prevention | 45.5 | 46.2 | 49.7 | ||
Operative dentistry | 48.5 | 48.6 | 45.0 | ||
Surgery | 2.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | ||
Number of years of practice Median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) | 14 (3; 29) | 16 (6; 29) | 18 (8; 30) | < 0.0001 | |
Number of patients Median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) | 744 (504; 992) | 791 (557; 1025) | 720 (512; 1018) | 0.001 | |
Number of procedures per patient Median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) | 2.9 (2.6; 3.3) | 3.0 (2.7; 3.4) | 3.0 (2.6; 3.5) | 0.004 | |
Patients’ characteristics | |||||
% of patients with chronic diseases Median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) | 11.3 (9.3; 13.5) | 11.9 (9.9; 14.0) | 11.8 (9.9; 14.2) | 0.0003 | |
% of patients with low income Median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) | 5.0 (2.4; 10.4) | 4.9 (2.3; 9.4) | 4.4 (2.1; 9.3) | 0.073 | |
% of patients < 16 years old Median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) | 15.3 (11.2; 19.5) | 14.8 (11.0; 18.8) | 15.0 (10.7; 18.6) | 0.197 | |
% of patients > 65 years old Median (1st quartile; 3rd quartile) | 16.3 (11.5; 21.8) | 17.3 (12.6; 22.4) | 17.5 (12.7; 22.4) | 0.008 | |